Britain's recovery is on track, with the economy in better shape than any of
the world’s other leading nations bar the US, according to the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation & Development.

The Paris-based think-tank’s latest composite leading indicators (CLIs), which have a good record for predicting changes six months in advance, pointed to “growth firming” in November alongside signs of a “stabilising outlook in most major economies”.

Evidence that the economy is picking up will help counter the bleak news expected next week, when the Office for National Statistics publishes its first estimate of growth for the final three months of 2012.

The National Institute of Economic & Social Research has warned that the economy contracted 0.3pc in the final quarter, raising the prospect of a triple-dip recession, while many economists claim that the UK’s underlying rate of growth is flat.

According to the OECD, though, growth in the UK has been accelerating for six months. For the past three months, the CLI reading has been above 100 – indicating that growth is above its long-term trend of 0.5pc to 0.6pc a quarter. For November, the CLI rose from 100.5 to 100.7 – its strongest level since June 2011. Only the US was better, with a reading of 101.

Britain’s improvement over the past year has been the strongest of all Group of Seven nations, with a rise of 1.5pc outpacing the US’s 0.87pc. The monthly growth rate has also been robust at around 0.2pc for the past five months.

Britain’s hopes for economic revival are pinned on an upturn in the eurozone. According to the OECD, growth was “stabilising” in the single currency bloc in November and “firming” in the broader OECD world region.

However, the eurozone is growing at below trend rate, with the CLIs at 99.5. “The CLIs for Italy, Germany, France and the euro area as a whole point to a stabilisation in growth prospects,” the OECD said. China and India are showing “tentative signs of a turning point” after several weak months.

Despite the improvement, the OECD slashed its growth forecasts for the UK in November from growth of 0.5pc in 2012 to a contraction of 0.1pc, and from 1.9pc growth in 2013 to just 0.9pc.